AFP reported that Md Mahbubul Alam Hanif, an Awami League joint general secretary and former minister, was sentenced to death in absentia over six killings tied to Bangladesh’s 2024 uprising.
Hanif, a former minister, was among four Awami League members convicted in a case involving six deaths in Kushtia, western Bangladesh, AFP reported. The court imposed life sentences on three other party leaders, AFP reported.
The order calls for half the four defendants’ immovable assets to be seized, Islam said, with the assets allocated as compensation to families of those killed or injured in the uprising.
“The charges against the convicts were undoubtedly proved,” Islam told reporters. State-appointed defense lawyer Md Amir Hossain called the verdict “unacceptable.”
The United Nations estimated that up to 1,400 people died in July and August 2024 as former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government sought to quell the student-led uprising. AFP reported that Hasina’s 15-year rule ended in August 2024.
AFP reported that, as of the Oct. 29 verdict, 72 people had been convicted in cases linked to the 2024 uprising. Of these, 23 have received death sentences, and four are in custody.
